Continuous flow washing machine assembly



Jan. 25, 1955 E. SULZMANN 2,700,287

CONTINUOUS FLOW WASHING MACHINE ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fiql 5a mean Jan. 25, 1955' E. SULZMANN CONTINUOUS FLOW WASHING MACHINE ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 25 1950 FreshRfnsi Walker II T Fig. ll

Jaye for United States Patent O CONTINUOUS FLOW WASHING MACHINE ASSEMBLY Erich Sulzmann, Bremen, Germany Application January 25, 1950, Serial No. 140,378

Claims priority, application Germany March 28, 1949 7 Claims. (Cl. 68-27) The present invention relates to the washing of textiles, and, more particularly, to large-scale laundry installations such as commercial laundries, hospital laundries, hotel laundries and the like.

Laundry installations of the above type, as heretofore in use, consist of a plurality of independent washing machines which individually and independently from each other wash the respective laundry contained therein while subjecting the same sequentially to a plurality of laundering steps. According to these steps, the laundry is first washed in warm or hot water containing washing ingredients such as soap, whereupon bleaching agents are added, and finally the laundry is rinsed with warm and cold water. Thus, a plurality of baths is necessary with each individual washing machine, and each time a bath is changed, the old bath is drained. This represents a considerable loss of (a) Washing ingredients, since the discharged wash water still contains a considerable amount of unused washing ingredients;

(b) Bleaching agents likewise contained in the discharged wash water;

Heat contained in the discharged water and the rinsing water, which both are still hot at the time they are being discharged;

(d) Softening ingredients contained in the discharged water;

(e) Time, caused by the time required for discarding one bath and filling in the new bath;

(f) Water, caused by the frequent changes of wash and rinsing water for each individual machine; and finally (g) Wages, since all machines are-respectively loaded and unloaded at the same time so that a plurality of operators is required in order to effect a fast loading and unloading of all machines.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved laundry installation for washing laundry, especially household laundry, in large-scale laundries such as commercial laundries, hospital laundries, hotel laundries and the like, which will overcome the abovementioned drawbacks.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved laundry installation for the purpose outlined above which will make it possible considerably to reduce the consumption of washing ingredients, bleaching ingredients, heat and water without lowering the standards of cleanliness.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved laundry installation for large-scale laundries such as commercial laundries, hospital laundries, hotel laundries, and the like which will make it possible to Wash laundry in a continuous flow of water while allowing at predetermined intervals to unload and reload each of the plurality of washing machines of said installation without interrupting the washing process in the respective remaining washing machines.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic illustration of a front view of a laundry machine installation according to the present invention which, for purposes of example, comprises twelve washing machines;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic'top View of the laundry machine assembly of Fig. 1.

2,700,287 Patented Jan. 25, 1955 "ice Fig. 3 shows an end view of the arrangement according to Figs. 1 and 2.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate in cross-section control means for use in connection with the laundry machine installation according to the invention, said figures respectively illustrating three different positions of said control means;

Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10 diagrammatically illustrate the laundering process carried out by the laundry machine installation according to the present invention;

Figures 11 and 12 show a slight variation of some details of a laundry installation according to the invention.

General arrangement The laundry machine installation according to the present invention is primarily characterized by a plurality of individual washing machines including a container and a drum rotatable therein and provided with perforations, which machines are arrranged in series (the order in said series advancing at predetermined intervals during a laundering cycle), and are adapted by conduit means and control means associated with said conduit means to communicate with each other in such a manner that the water supplied to the respective serially first machine will successively pass from said serially first machinethrough all of the following machines into the last machine, and from there intoa drain, while said control means comprise control elements adapted so to be actuated so that selectively each machine (the respective serially first machine) having gone through a complete laundering cycle, may be disconnected from the remainder of the machines, while each machine when representing the serially last machine, may be connected to a drain. The arrangement is such that each washing machine having gone through a complete laundering cycle can be disconnected from the remainder of the machines which continue through their laundering cycle while the disconnected machine which, up to that time was the serially first machine, is unloaded, reloaded and connected so that it now becomes the serially last machine, and communicates with a drain. Thus, the processing step in each machine serially progresses in a direction counter to the flow of water flowing from the respective serially first machine through all of the other machines to the serially last machine and from there into a drain, while the machines themselves may be stationary, i. e. the laundering step in the respective machines advances in a direction opposite to the direction of flow of the water.

Structural arrangement Referring now to the drawings in detail and to Figs. 1 to 3 thereof in particular, the laundry installation shown therein comprises twelve serially arranged washing machines I to XII. These machines, which may be standard machines with an outer container or a drum and an inner perforated drum or basket rotatable within said outer drum or container, are arranged in a conduit a which communicates with the respective washing machines at a portion thereof which is below the normal operating level of the wash bath in said machines. The said machines are adapted to communicate with each other through said conduit means a and through control means e arranged in said conduit'a. The control means e1 to em may be in the form of control boxes, shown in detail in Figs. 4 to 6. Inasmuch as these control boxes are identical to each other, only one of said control boxes need be described.

As will be seen from Figs. 4 to 6, each control box generally designated e comprises an inlet f, a drainage port or discharge g and a through flow passage or outlet port h. Each control box e is furthermore provided with an insertable and removable overflow pipe 0 and an insertable and removable plug it. The assembly furthermore includes a fresh water supply conduit [2 which through branch pipes c and valves d1 to rim is adapted to communicate with the conduit means a. Vashing agents may be supplied to the conduit means a through a pipe 1' and branch pipes ii with valves in provided therein. The addition of bleaching agents may be effected through a 'pipe k which, by means of branch pipes k1 and valves 1 ,isadapted to communicate with the conduit means a.

Heat may be introduced into the washing machines in conventional manner.

Operation It may now be assumed that the control boxes @1 to err occupy Fig. 6 position so that the machines I to XII communicate with each other through the conduit means a. It is further assumed that the control box e12 between the machine XII and the machine I occupies Fig. 4 position, which means that the plug n prevents direct communication of machine XII with machine I, while connecting the machine XII through the overflow pipe and discharge g with a drain Z. It is supposed that all machines are loaded with laundry and that each laundry load starting with the laundry load in machine XI and progressing via machine X to machine I has gone through one more laundering step than the preceding machine, so that the cleanest laundry load is in machine I, the next cleanest load is in machine II, and so on. It is further assumed that the machine XII has just been loaded with dirty laundry and has been reconnected to the circuit, while all valves dz to 6112 are closed whereas the fresh water valve th is opened, which is located between machine XII and machine I, said machine I, as stated before,

containing the cleanest laundry. It will then be clear that fresh rinsing water, which may be ordinary cold tap water, first enters the serially first machine, i. e. ma chine I, with the cleanest laundry. From here the water flows successively to and through the machines II, III, IV, V to XII and from the latter through the next following control box e, its overflow pipe 0 and discharge port g into the drain Z. Since, as is well known, proper washing must be done in warm or hot water, somewhere between machine I and machine XII heat will be added in any conventional manner so as to bring up the temperature in the respective machine to the desired degree required for the washing process proper.

Similarly, washing ingredients and bleaching ingredients, and, if desired, softening ingredients, are added in any conventional manner to the bath or the flow of water somewhere between the respective serially first and the respective serially last machine. When and where the heat and the various ingredients are added to the fiow of water depends on the type of laundry being washed, whether white or colored, slightly soiled or very much soiled, the type of fabric being laundered, and so on. Any experienced laundryman will know how much heat, what quantity and type of ingredients have to be added to the flow of water, and at what point in the circuit. It will thus be clear that after a predetermined time, the

laundry in machine I will have been completely rinsed clear so that the laundry therein is ready for unloading. To this end, valve d1 is closed while simultaneously valve d2 is opened and plug n is removed from the discharge port g (see Fig. 6 position) of control box e1 and inserted into the outlet port it of the latter (see Fig. 5 position). Thus, fresh rinsing water now enters first machine II and from there, as before, flows through the machines III, IV, V and VI to XII into the drain Z so that the laundering process in machines II to XII continues. On the other hand, machine I is now disconnected from machine II and thus from all the other machines, while the Water from machine I is discharged through the discharge port g of control box e1 into the drain Z. The laundry is then removed from machine I and replaced by a new dirty laundry load whereupon an overflow plug 0 is inserted into the discharge port g of control box e1. Finally, control plug n of control box am is removed from the outlet port h while the overflow plug 0 of control box e12 is removed from discharge port g and immediately replaced by a closure plug n so that control box 212 will be in Fig. 6 position. As a result, machine XII now directly communicates with machine I, which latter now represents the serially last machine and as such conveys the liquid received from the other machines through overflow plug 0 to drain Z, in the same manner as was previously done by machine XII. It will be appreciated that the purpose of the overflow plug 0 consists in maintaining a predetermined level in all of the washing machines. Accordingly, machine If now represents the serially first machine. After a predetermined time, the laundry in machine II, which is now the cleanest laundry in the series, will be ready for unloading, and the same operation is repeated as was described before in connection with machines I and XII. Then machine III will be the serially first machine, thereafter machine IV will be the serially first machine and so on until machine XII after having become the serially first machine, has been unloaded. When this happens, also machine XII has completed a full laundering cycle. Assuming that it take sixty minutes for each machine to go througha complete laundering cycle, and further assuming that there are twelve machines in the circuit, it will be obvious that one machine will be unloaded and reloaded every five minutes.

It is, of course, understood that instead of twelve, also less machines, for instance, six, or more machines, e. g. eighteen, etc. may be in a circuit. If there were six Inachines in a circuit and assuming the same total time of sixty minutes for a complete laundering cycle, it will be obvious that the unloading and loading of each machine will be eifected in intervals of ten minutes.

It will also be appreciated that, when starting the assembly, i. e., when all machines are empty, first all machines are loaded and are put through a complete cycle without replacing any of the laundry loads. After this first run, the assembly is operated as explained above.

As to the various conditions which prevail during the laundering operation, reference may be had to Figs. 7 and 8. These figures diagrammatically illustrate the conditions for a laundry installation of twelve machines. It may also be mentioned that the various temperatures referred to in connection with Figs. 7 and 8 are no absolute values but are selected as mere examples only since as stated before, the temperatures of the bath in the laundry installation, irrespective of the number of machines, very much depends to a great extent on the type of laundry and other factors referred to above.

With the above reservations, referring now to Figs. 7 and 8, fresh cold rinsing water is admitted first to the machine I where it meets laundry which has been rinsed by clear water for some time and is practically completely clean. From here the water passes to the next following machine, i. e. machine II which is likewise in its rinsing process, although its rinsing process is less advanced than in machine I. It will also be noticed when the water in machine II is checked that the water is slightly cloudy. Lye tests have shown that this cloudiness is not due to dirt but is caused by washing agents still in the water of machine II. The farther the bath advances, the closer it comes to the machines engaged in the washing process proper and the warmer will be the laundry hit by the water. Therefore, while the water passes through the machines starting from the machine I and progressing through machines II, III, etc., the water will absorb heat from the laundry in thesemachines so that the temperature of the water rises from machine to machine. Thus, as an example, the water when passing through machine I may have a temperature of 60 F. By the time the water has passed machines II and III and is passing through machine IV, it may have already a temperature of F, the elevation of the temperature from machine I to machine IV being due solely to the absorption of heat from the laundry in machines I, II, III and IV. Assuming that due to the nature of the particular laundry being washed, the actual washing process is to be carried out in or from machine V on, heat is then added to machine V in any conventional manner. Assuming that the particular laundry involved requires a heat-peak of 205 B, it will be seen that it is merely necessary to add so much heat as the difference will amount between the desired heat peak and the temperature reached by the water due to absorption of heat from the laundry at the time it reaches the machine V. In this particular example illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, it would be necessary merely to add so much heat as to raise the temperature of the bath by about 45 F. This amount of heat is rather small, so that if, for instance, heat were added in the form of steam as disclosed, for instance, in German Patent No. 47,567, U. S. Patent 2,200,144 or Austrian Patents 85,898 and 123,692, a small steam boiler would be sufficient to furnish the steam required by a relatively large washing machine assembly in contrast to the rather large steam boiler required in connection with the commercial laundry installations heretofore customary. The great economy of an arrangement according to the present invention is further increased by the fact that while heretofore a large quantity of water had to be heated up quickly over a great temperature range, in the arrangement of the present invention only a small temperature increase from 160 to 205 F. has to be effected, which can be done by supplying a corresponding ;heat quantity in .a continuous process. Elihus, .-simi1,ar to ture of the bath gradually drop. This is indicated in Figs.

7 and 8 according to which it is assumed that when the bath reaches the machine VI, its temperature will have dropped from 205 to 195 F., while the temperature in machine VII has dropped to 185 F., and inmachine VIII has reached a temperature of 180 F. By the "time the water reaches machine IX, its temperature may be assumed to be 160 F. Machine IX may in this particular example be considered the beginning of the pre-wash zone. Here a marked transfer of heat from the water to the laundry in said machine takes place, which laundry has nearly the same temperature it had when it was freshly placed into the respective machine. Thus, while in the rinsing machines or rinsing zone R, the water is, without additional cost, warmed by the heat which the laundry had taken up during the washing step proper; in the .prewash zone P the laundry is warmed by the heat which the water still contains and had acquired in the washing zone W. When the bath finally leaves the machine XII and through the overflow passes into the drain Z, it has, in the particular example of Figs. 7 and 8, only a temperature of approximately 85 F. Thus, the heat in the laundry and later on in the water leaving the washing zone proper has practically been used up completely.

Now as to the washing agents, the conditions are very similar to those just described in connection with the exploitation of the heat contained in the system. The fresh rinsing water entering the machine I and subsequently passing through machines II, III, etc. takes up from the laundry contacted thereby those washing agents or ingredients which are still bound to the laundry from the washing step. The more the bath approaches the washing zone proper, the richer it becomes in washing agents. Only when the bath has reached the zone where the washing step is at its full height, or shortly before, new, fresh washing agents are introduced into the system. The fresh washing agents may be introduced into the system at about the same place where heat is added to the system. These washing ingredients are then carried into. the subsequent machines. The adding of heat is carried out at predetermined intervals, viz. each time one machine is to be loaded and unloaded, so that the next following machine becomes the serially first machine. When this happens, as has been described before, the fresh rinsing water supply is advanced by one machine, i. e. the first machine then receiving fresh water is the machine which serially follows that machine which is being unloaded and reloaded. Similarly, the supply of heat and washing ingredients is also advanced by one machine. Assuming the time for a complete laundering cycle to be sixty minutes, and that twelve machines are in the circuit, it will be clear that heat and washing agents will be added every five minutes, and that one machine will be unloaded and reloaded every five minutes so that also the supply of fresh rinsing water will be advanced by one machine every five minutes.

Although in the particular example illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 the fresh washing agents are added only every five minutes, lye tests have shown that the concentration of washing agents between the place where the fresh washing agents are added to the bath, and the overflow, respectively, remains nearly the same. While at a first glance this fact appears to be surprising, it can easily be explained. Inasmuch as the bath on its way through the rinsing zone takes from the laundry unused washing agents, as stated above, it naturally carries these unused, clean washing agents along and adds the same to the machines in the washing zone proper and the pre-washing zone proper. Thus, the washing agents are almost completely used up when the water finally flows into the drain Z through the overflow in the serially last machine.

It may be mentioned that, while for purposes of explanation, the above description and the drawing refer to a rinsing zone R, a washing zone W and a pre-wash zone P, there are, of course, no sharply marked zones,

but eachrzone :gradually merges :with the next following Fig. 9diagrammatically illustrates the machine I in the loading and unloading stages, while the supply of fresh rinsing water has been advanced from machine I to machine II. Fig. 10 showsmachine I loaded and reconnected with the circuit but now representing the serially last machine from which the water fiows into a drain, while the machine II, as in Fig. ,9, represents the serially first machine.

With regard to Figs. 11 and 12, the modifications shown therein differ from the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 merely in that the drainage port g of the control boxes e in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are connected to a drainage pipe T common to all of them, which drainage pipe has a bend or gooseneck p which extends up to the operating level of the liquid bath in the washing machines and control boxes. In addition thereto the pipes b and c with valves 031 to dis have been replaced by a pipe with hoses q for supplying rinsing fluid to the respective washing machines by placing the mouth of said hose into the respective washing machine.

Summarizing the outstanding features of the arrangement according to the present invention, it may be mentioned that:

(l) The washing machines are arranged in series in conduit means so that the water admitted to the first machine in the series successively flows through all machines and from the last machine through an overflow into a drain; in other words, the machines while in operation are arranged in an open circuit.

(in) The laundry is treated in a continuous process, i. e. by continuously flowing water which always flows in the same direction and from the serially first through the serially last machine in the circuit, while the washing cycle progresses in a direction opposite to the direction in which said water flows.

(2) Each of the washing machines can selectively be disconnected from the circuit for loading and unloading laundry and can again be connected to said circuit while the water continues to flow successively through the remainder of the washing machines.

(2a) Only one machine at a time is disconnected from or reconnected to the arrangement while the treatment of the laundry in the other machines continues.

(3) Each of the washing machines has associated therewith control means adapted to allow (I) Selectively to convey the water from one machine to the next following machine;

(II) To drain the water from the respective machine completely, without interrupting the flow of water through the other machines;

(III) To drain from the respective machine only the overflow, thereby maintaining a certain operating bath level in all machines in the circuit.

(3a) Only one machine at a time, namely, that which contains the cleanest laundry and is the first machine in the series, is connected to the clean water supply directly, and only one machine at a time, namely, the machine last loaded with laundry to be washed, i. e. the last machine in the series has its overflow connected to the drain.

(3b) Each time a machine is disconnected from the rest of the machines for unloading completely washed laundry, the next following machine becomes the first in the series, and each time a machine freshly loaded with laundry to be washed is again to be connected to the circuit, it becomes the last machine in the series.

(30) The ends of a complete treatment of the loads in the sequentially arranged machines are spaced by a predetermined time interval, i. e. the total time of a cycle divided by the number of washing machines of the entire assembly. Thus, with 12 machines in a series, every five minutes one load will have been completely treated while its total treatment period was one hour.

(3d) The washing agent, bleaching agent, and heat are added at predetermined intervals to the flow of water somewhere between the respective first and the respective last machine in the series.

I claim:

1. A washing machine assembly which comprises in combination: conduit means closed in itself, a plurality of washing machines arranged in series in said conduit means and adapted to be operated at a certain operating level, each of said washing machines comprising a stationary drum and a perforated basket rotatably mounted in said drum for receiving laundry to be washed, said conduit means directly interconnecting said drums for conveying water from the serially first washing machine successively through all the other washing machine drums into the drum of the serially last machine, a drain, over- .flow means arranged for connection with the drum of the serially last machine and having its inlet at said operating level and having its outlet arranged for communication with said drain for discharging Water above :said operating level from the drum of said serially last machine through said overflow means into said drain to thereby maintain the same operating water level in each drum of all of said washing machines, control means arranged in said conduit means and respectively connected with said washing machines and operable selectively to interrupt fluid connection between each machine and the next following machine, and water supply means arranged for connection with any of said washing machines for selectively admitting clean fresh water directlyto any of said machines.

2. A washing machine assembly according to claim 1, in which the conduit means for conveying water from the serially first washing machine to the serially last washing machine are arranged below said operating level.

3. A washing machine assembly according to claim 1, which includes additional conduit means arranged for selectively conveying washing and bleaching agents to any of said machines.

4. A washing machine assembly which comprises in combination: conduit means closed in itself, a plurality of washing machines arranged in series in said conduit means, each of said washing machines including a stationary drum and a rotatable basket within said drum for receiving laundry to be washed, said conduit means interconnecting said drums for conveying water from the serially first machine successively through all the other washing machines into the serially last machine, said washing machines being adapted to be operated at a certain operating water level, a drain for discarding dirty water, a plurality of control means respectively arranged in said conduit means between the drums of each two adjacent washing machines, each of said control means including means operable selectively to effect fluid connection between the respective stationary drum of the directly preceding washing machine and the drum of the next following washing machine and also containing means for selectively discharging water from the respective directly preceding Washing machine drum into said drain, and means in fluid communication with said washing machine drums and arranged to maintain said operating level in said washing machine drums and to pass the water beyond said operating level into said drain.

5. In combination in a washing machine assembly: conduit means closed in itself, a plurality of washing machines serially arranged within said conduit means, each of said washing machines comprising a container adapted to be filled with a liquid bath up to a certain operating level and also containing a rotatable basket arranged in said container and provided with perforations for receiving the laundry to be washed, said conduit means being connected to a portion of said washing machine containers which is below said operating level, a plurality of control means respectively interposed between each two adjacent washing machine containers, said control means including an inlet port and an outlet port for passing liquid from one washing machine container to the next washing machine container, said control means also including a drainage port for passing liquid from said inlet port through said drainage port, discharge, conduit means arranged for communication with any of said drainage ports, and means communicating with said discharge conduit means and extending upwardly to said operating level for maintaining the same operating level of liquid in all of the interconnected washing machine containers, each of said control means also comprising closure means for selectively closing said outlet or said drainage ports.

6. In combination in a washing machine assembly: conduit means closed in itself; a plurality of washing machines arranged in series in said conduit means, each of said washing machines comprising a container adapted to be filled with water up to a certain operating wash bathlevel and also comprising a basket arranged for receiving the laundry to be washed and rotatable in said container and provided with perforations to allow water from the container to flow therethrough into the basket and vice versa; said conduit means being connected to said washing machine containers at a portion below said operating wash bath level; and a plurality of control means arranged in said conduit means and respectively interposed between each two adjacent washing machine containers; each of said control means comprising an inlet port, an outlet port, a drainage port, and closure means operable selectively to close said outlet port or said drainage port; said control means also including overflow means arranged for selective connection with said drainage port to discharge therethrough liquid exceeding said operating wash bath level in said machine containers.

7. A washing machine assembly for washing laundry, which comprises in combination: a conduit means closed in itself; a plurality of washing machines arranged in series in said conduit means, each of said washing machines including a container adapted to be filled with liquid up to a certain operating level and also including a perforated basket rotatable in said container for receiving laundry to be washed, said conduit means interconnecting said washing machine containers so as to allow conveying water from the container of the serially first washing machine successively through the containers of all the other washing machines to the container of the serially last washing machine; fresh water supply means arranged for selectively supplying fresh water directly to any one of said washing machine containers; a plurality of control means arranged in said conduit means between each two adjacent washing machine containers and including passage means controllable for selectively effecting or interrupting fluid communication of each respective washing machine container with the container of the serially next following washing machine; said control means also including a drainage port adapted to pass water from the respective container of the serially preceding washing machine to a drain; a plurality of closure means respectively associated with said control means and operable selectively to close the respective drainage ports; and means operable selectively for connection with the respective serially last drainage port for automatically maintaining the same operating water level in all of the machine containers in the respective washing cyc e.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 153,410 Whitnum July 21, 1874 160,743 Barker Mar. 16, 1875 322,665 Wilson July 21, 1885 425,614 Klauder Apr. 15, 1890 654,170 Malard July 24, 1900 1,067,380 Skitt July 15, 1913 1,149,298 Shaw Aug. 10, 1915 1,698,778 Clark Jan. 15, 1929 1,806,289 Getz May 19, 1931 1,819,419 Jackson Aug. 18, 1931 1,854,485 Reeps Apr. 19, 1932 2,374,247 Thaxton Apr. 24, 1945 2,395,397 Croft Feb. 26, 1946 2,422,897 Hebard et al June 24, 194

FOREIGN PATENTS 264,047 Germany Sept. 17, 1913 346,936 Great Britain Apr. 23, 1931 

